Never pay for SMS with clever use of iPhone apps

For me, SMS is simply a way for the wireless industry to rob money from people. It really irks me that we have to pay as much as 20 cents to send or receive a single SMS or pay for a bulk package that we never really intend to use fully. So, I managed to live without it for few years.

But, SMS has its share of advantages. What if you wanted to talk to someone about something that is not urgent? You do not want to disturb them if they are busy. It would be nice to send an SMS to them asking them to call you when they are free. Email is another option. But people are inundated with so much email these days that they might never check your message soon enough. If you are like me, with an iPhone and most of the friends also using one, there are few things you can do to get SMS like feature for free. iPhone OS 3.0 introduced push notifications that alert a user similar to the way you receive an SMS. All techniques mentioned below use these push notifications as a way to get SMS like functionality.

1. iPhone to iPhone push messages : There are several apps like Ping! which are iPhone-to-iPhone messengers with push notifications. If you and your friends install the app, you can send your friend a message that basically pops-up a push notification that is as good as SMS. Some apps are free or you pay a dollar or two. But you never pay for a message ever again.

2. Twitter direct messages : If you and your friends use Twitter, there are apps that send you a push notification whenever someone sends a direct message to you in Twitter. For example, there is Boxcar that is free for one service. If you have the app installed, all you have to do to send an SMS like message is to send a direct message to your friend in Twitter.

3. Anything else you can think of with push notification : Boxcar also supports push notification for emails. Give your Boxcar email address to your friend and whenever he sends an email to that address, you will receive push message. Similarly there are several other use cases like growl push notifications app that sends a push notification whenever you get a growl message on your system. You can use one that suits your need.

If you have any other ideas, let me know in the comments ...

The iPhone apps that never arrived

It's true that there are over 75,000 apps in the iPhone App Store at this time. But how may are really useful ? I have been waiting for a long time for some apps that I thought will arrive soon. I'm still waiting for them.

1. Official American Express App : Online banking is great and iPhone apps make it really really easy to check your balance or make a payment. I have an app from Chase and BofA. But I never got one from AMEX.

2. Google Voice : It's easy to write a series of posts about how Apple got threatened by the iPhone apps that Google is developing and stopped approving them under idiotic reasons. Google Voice is one of them. I can't think of a more stupid move to block competition and innovation. I really started thinking about shifting my allegiance to Android just for this one app.

3. Google Latitude/Google AdSense/Google Reader : Google made a cool iPhone app for Google Latitude and Apple rejected it saying that people might confuse it with the default Maps app. What a lame excuse. Apple, take this into account ... If people are stupid enough that they confuse between one app from the other, they really won't be using an iPhone. With the latitude/voice app rejections, I think Google stopped developing apps for iPhone and rightly so. So, I might never see an official AdSense or Reader app.

4. Digg : I thought this will be the first few apps to come out. There is some news that one is in the works. But it is too long a wait.

What app are you waiting for ? Add it to the list in the comments ...

Pound to rupee exchnage rates

After the launch of dollar2rupee.net to provide an easy way to compare and track live dollar to rupee exchange rates (USD to INR) from major providers, there have been many requests from NRIs in other countries like UK, Australia and Canada to do something similar for their region. Though I liked the idea, I was very busy at work and couldn't work on it for some time. Finally, I got some free time yesterday and finished the work needed for the website to show pound to rupee (GBP to INR) exchange rates.

You can now access the UK pound sterling to Indian rupee conversion rates provided by ICICI Money2India, SBI Express Remit, Remit2India, HDFC and Axis Bank live at pound2rupee.net. All the values are fetched from the respective bank websites and stored on this site so that you can even see the exchange rates for a specific day in the past. There is a line chart and an average values chart for easy comparison.

Many times, users prefer a bank that also provides a good customer service along with competitive rates. So, check the voting page to see which banks users like you recommend and also to vote for your favorite bank.

As always, your feedback is most welcome and I try to accommodate the most requested features when I find time. So, feel free to click on the feedback link and provide your comments.

California driving license renewal during H1 renewal

Unlike some other states, California's DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) issues the driving license valid only till the end of your H1B visa. So, if an application for extension of your H1B status is already filed and is pending while your H1B visa expires, you will not be able to drive as your driving license also expires the same day as your visa. Though you can legally stay in US while the petition is pending, DMV will not renew your license until you get the final approval from USCIS.

If you are in such a situation, here is what you need to do to get a temporary license from DMV.

To renew your license, you need the approval and the new I-94. But you can get a temporary license for 60 days if you have the receipt notice of your extension petition. DMV field offices will not be able to help you in this matter. Call the DMV Sacramento office @ 916-657-7790 and explain them the situation. They will ask you to fax a copy of the receipt notice, your expired I-94 and some more pages of the passport. Once they have all these documents, they will send you a temporary license by USPS to your mailing address.

If you are in a hurry and want to get the temporary license fast, you can request them to send it by FedEx next day service. But you have to pay for it.

iPhone Battery Level Indicator Is Lying

This happened to me a couple of times. The battery charge indicator on the top bar says it is full while the lock screen indicator says that the battery is low. Which one is telling the truth ?

Have you ever noticed this on your iPhone ?

Dropbox is the shortest way to share iPhone photos

Dropbox is a way to sync files between computers, share them easily and also have an online backup for your files. Dropbox released an iPhone app recently. Combining Dropbox's sharing features with the iPhone results in a lightening quick way to share photos.

For the sake of those who are new to Dropbox, I will explain the simple yet very useful sharing features of Dropbox. Sharing files or photos with Dropbox is as easy as dropping them inside a specific folder and giving your friends a public URL where they can access them. If the files you are sharing are photos, Dropbox automatically creates thumbnails view. Your friends can click on them to view the full photo or download them.

If you want to only share with a few friends and don't like the public URL idea, you can always create a folder that is shared with your friends and all the files or photos you put in that folder appear on your friend's computer.

Now, coming on to the iPhone app, you can take photos using your iPhone camera and save them to a folder in your Dropbox. If you are on a trip and want to share your photos with your friends as soon as you take them, create a Dropbox folder that is shared with them and save all the photos that you take to that folder. That's it. All the photos you take will be available for your friends to view immediately. That's what I call the shortest way to share your photos.

If you are new to Dropbox and want to create a free account, use this referral link and we will both get some extra space.

Connect Google Talk for your domain outside Google network

My office instant messaging system moved to WebEx Connect allowing me to connect and chat with people outside. I wanted to add a select few to my office instant messenger WebEx Connect so that they can reach me when I'm in office and offline in Google Talk. During this process I discovered that WebEx connect connects fine with regular Gmail users but fails to connect with those who use Google Apps accounts.

After some time spent searching in Google, I understood that it is a problem with the Google Apps for your domain DNS records. So, if you are logging into Google Talk as an Apps user and can't chat with people on Jabber or other systems outside Google network, you have to ask your domain administrator to add some SRV records to DNS settings.

Google's help document on this subject is here and this link has some pretty decent explanation with screenshots showing how to use GoDaddy to enter those records.

Tell me that again ?

The Weather Channel iPhone app shows "Wind - CALM at calm mph" ...